Chapter 12: The Battle of Prism Tower

~ Sea Spirit's Den ~

Korrina suddenly awoke to the feeling of...water? Oh no... she thought.

She quickly stood up, her socks and skirt soaked. There were about three inches of water inside of her prison cell, and it was rising at an alarming rate. She could sense Lucario panicking in the adjacent cell.

"Lucario! We have to break out!" she shouted, but she knew it was useless. Lucario had spent so much time already trying to break through the cell walls. Unfortunately, all that had resulted in were a few bruises on its fists and feet.

If only I could Mega-Evolve Lucario right now...then we would probably be able to break out, Korrina thought to herself. She knew Lucario was probably thinking the same thing.

She looked out her cell window and stared helplessly at her Keystone and Lucarionite, laying side-by-side on top of a small table a few meters away. Then, as the water reached her knees, Korrina had an idea.

– –

~ Route 15, Kalos ~

"Tell me about yourself, self-proclaimed Draconid girl," Diantha said, now suddenly wary of the young woman in front of her. If she truly was who she said she was, then...well, Diantha didn't quite know what to do or think. In fact, she had only heard of the Draconid in ancient myths, so her understanding of them was quite elementary. She had never even considered the possibility that they were real.

Zinnia opened her mouth to speak when a faint roar echoed from a distance. It was just barely audible, but it certainly wasn't a typical sound heard within the Kalos region. Diantha felt as if she had heard it before, but the sound was so far away she couldn't quite put her finger on it. What she did know was this: the roar was coming from Lumiose City.

"What the hell was that?" Zinnia asked aloud, tilting her head towards the direction of the sound, waiting for a possible repeat.

Diantha's eyes widened. "Something is wrong. I have to go...you stay here and keep an eye on Morty; I will try to be back as soon as I can," she said.

Zinnia almost laughed at her. "Whoa, what are you talking about? Whatever the hell that thing was, it sure sounded terrifyingly threatening. It must be huge, given that we heard it from all the way over there. You're gonna need my help, whether you like it or not," she said confidently, already mounting her Salamence.

Diantha shook her head. "That is nonsense. I am the Champion of Kalos. It is my duty to protect my region from anything that poses a potential threat. You stay here and watch Morty," she commanded again, but it was like talking to a tree.

As Diantha continued scolding her, Zinnia thought about the roar. It must be Rayquaza...it must be! I know I'm close...and I know that I can prove myself this time.

Diantha was getting fed up with the Draconid girl. "So? Will you obey my orders or not?" she demanded, exasperated.

"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention. What are you waitin' for? Let's go!" Zinnia cheered, her Salamence lifting off of the ground and taking flight.

Diantha was almost ready to force Zinnia to stay, but decided against it. It would be counterintuitive to start a fight now, she thought. She turned to her Pokemon.

"Gardevoir, Teleport!"

– –

~ Terminus Cave ~

"Pika! Pikachu pi!" Pikachu exclaimed as the blob hopped its way into a large chamber. Sceptile and Pikachu sprinted inside and each took a step back from what they saw, shocked.

– –

"Man, what's taking those two so long? I would've thought they'd find us by now," Ash said, worrying for his Pokemon. "We should be getting to Lumiose by now..."

Serena squeezed his hand lightly. "I'm sure they'll turn up eventually. After all, Pikachu's pretty much the smartest Pokemon I've ever met," she said encouragingly, hoping to cheer him up.

Ash smiled. "You're right. Thanks," he said, rubbing underneath his nose.

The horde continued moving into a gigantic room, where dozens of them were making their way to the center.

Ash tried to get a closer look, but he didn't want to step on any of the blobs. "What the..."

Serena pointed to the center, where numerous green rays of light were shining brightly. "Look, I think they're all interacting somehow."

Ash saw that she was right. The blobs were literally hopping into one, big...something. Okay, this doesn't make any sense, Ash thought to himself, and he was sure that Serena was thinking the same thing.

On the other side of the room, Pikachu and Sceptile were watching the same exact thing happen, whatever it was. Ash glanced up and noticed the little yellow mouse standing next to the tall, green tree gecko. He immediately smiled and cupped his hands around his mouth, shouting, "Pikachu! Sceptile! Over here!"

Pikachu and Sceptile both used Quick Attack around the edge of the room to give Ash a big, group hug. "I knew you would make it! Man, I was so worried about you guys, though," Ash said as he embraced his Pokemon.

Serena gasped, tapping Ash on the shoulder. "Um, Ash? You might wanna see this," she said nervously, holding a hand over her mouth.

Ash looked up and saw...a dog?

"What? There's no way...how does that make any sense?" he exclaimed.

The dog had about the same body type as a Houndoom, only it was a little thinner and smaller in size and it certainly did not look like a Fire-type. But that wasn't the end of it; directly beside it was another one, identical to the one beside it. The two creatures just stood there, staring at Ash and Serena.

Within moments, three more identical dogs formed from the combining blobs. All five dogs stood together, warily eyeing Ash and Serena. Serena knew not to be afraid, since she knew Ash was right by her side, but she couldn't help but wonder what these dogs were going to do.

Ash stepped in front of her in a protective manner. "Stay back. We don't know wh-"

Suddenly, without warning, two dogs leapt forward, straight towards the two trainers. Serena screamed as her hand immediately went to her waist for a Pokeball. But there was no need for that.

One dog playfully licked her on the cheek, while the other was having its head scratched by Ash. "Hey there, that's a good boy. Or girl. I'm not really sure what you are, to be honest," Ash said as he gently petted the strange creature.

Serena chuckled as the dog nuzzled up against her. "They're so friendly...but why are they here?"

Almost as suddenly as they had come, the two dogs both turned their heads to the left. The other three dogs did the same. Their ears perked up, and Ash guessed that they were picking up sounds from a great distance. Then he suddenly had an idea.

"Serena," he said. "I know how we can get back to Lumiose."

– –

~ Lumiose City ~

"Everyone stay alert. Expect Kyogre to be anywhere..." Alain said. Strangely, he found himself eyeing the fountain down the street. It was quite large; they had just renovated it last year and it was now about 25 yards in diameter. There's no way... he thought.

But it happened. The fountain basically exploded as Kyogre burst out from underneath it, water spewing everywhere as it let out an ear-splitting cry.

"Of course the river feeds that fountain. Of course..." Kenny said, shaking his head. He still wasn't willing to give up, though; he immediately brought out a Pokeball.

Alain quickly turned his attention back to his team, which was in some sort of disarray. He had forgotten that they still had Ash's Charizard with them. Laying on the hard ground with its eyes closed, the poor Flame Pokemon was absolutely devastated that it couldn't save Ash.

"This is horrible. Our Pokemon are exhausted, and we can't communicate with Team Dedenne! We're fucked!" Tierno shouted. He seemed to be having a nervous breakdown, not used to situations quite as stressful as this one. Trevor tried his best to calm him down, despite the fact that he knew it was going to take some time.

Dawn rolled her eyes. "Get a grip! Ash will be here in no time to help us out," she said, though even she knew that that was an unlikely possibility.

May spoke up. "That's not the right attitude, Dawn. We're banking all of our chances on Ash. I don't know how many times you've done that, but I know that when you travel with Ash, you get into these kinds of situations a lot. And when you do, you almost always end up relying on Ash. Well, what if he doesn't show up? Then what?"

Misty rolled her eyes, trying her hardest to contain her fear. "Well, she's right about Ash being a trouble-magnet," she remarked. Iris nodded in agreement, trying to mask her overwhelming fear of the possibility of Kyogre appearing, whose powerful Ice-type moves rattled her conscience.

Brock frowned. "May, you need to be more optimistic. How could you believe that Ash is gone already? After all you two have been through?" he demanded.

"That's not what I was saying!" May yelled angrily, tempted to stomp her foot like a young child to express her discontent.

Gary stepped in, sensing an unnecessary fight brewing. "Everybody, just calm down and get your shit together! We'll be fine. We just have to think quickly and rationally, and don't let-"

He was interrupted by a deafening roar. Everyone looked over and saw the huge buildings of Lumiose collapsing left and right, with red-hot magma flying everywhere in the mix.

Team Magma had arrived.

Alain just stared. "If they're here, than that means-"

"Team Dedenne's screwed, wherever they are..." Gary said.

As if on cue, Magma Admin Tabitha's voice came over a loudspeaker as Groudon slowly trampled its way towards Prism Tower, followed by dozens of helicopters.

"I would assume you're wondering where your friends are," he said. Although they couldn't see him, everyone knew that he was smirking. And why wouldn't he be? Everything was lining up according to their plan.

Team Piplup remained silent.

"I see, so I'm getting the silent treatment from ya'll. Well, whatever, that's fine; but maybe you'd start talking if you knew your friends were on the verge of death?" he said. "Show them, Courtney," he said.

The lead helicopter opened up its doors, revealing several figures who appeared to be tied up. Misty, May, Dawn, and Iris all stared intently in an attempt to get a glimpse of Ash, but he wasn't there. Beside them, Alain immediately recognized Mairin's primarily green outfit.

"Let them go!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, his hand immediately reaching for Charizard's Pokeball.

Matt's voice answered him with heartless, maniacal laughter. "Ah, there we go, someone finally speaks up. You want me to let her go? Okay, then I will," he said. "Courtney, go ahead."

Team Piplup watched in horror as Mairin was pushed off of the helicopter.

"Alain!" Mairin screamed helplessly as she plummeted down towards the ground at an alarming speed.

"Charizard, save her!" Alain shouted desperately, throwing Charizard's Pokeball as far as he could towards Mairin. Immediately after appearing, Charizard flew at top speed towards where Mairin's body was bound to fall.

For a moment, it looked like Charizard was going to make it. Alain watched helplessly as he prayed that everything would work out. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a huge apartment building beginning to fall, about to land on top of Charizard. His eyes widened as he realized that Charizard did not seem to notice it.

"Charizard! Look out!" Alain shouted.

Charizard looked up as the building was just seconds away from hitting it. It was too late; Charizard was going to have to break through it to keep flying.

"Mega Evolve!" Alain quickly touched his Keystone, and within seconds Charizard had taken on its Mega Evolved form, its body now more durable and its claws able to tear through steel. Luckily, it had Mega-Evolved just in time to smash through the building with a powerful Dragon Claw attack.

Team Piplup cheered; for a second they had all thought Charizard was done for. Only then did they realize just how close Mairin was to hitting the ground.

"You can do it, Charizard!" Alain shouted, his hands gripped into fists, wishing that there was something more he could do. However, Charizard's admirable speed was making it seem like Mairin was going to be okay.

If only Groudon hadn't been there.

Another building, significantly larger than the first, came crashing down upon Charizard's entire body, knocking it down and out of the air.

"NO!" Alain yelled, sprinting over to where Mairin was about to fall. It was hopeless, but he was in too much panic to think clearly. He couldn't lose the girl he had been so much through.

Suddenly, a flash of blue and red appeared underneath Mairin, and within half of a second she was gone. Everyone looked around, confused, until they saw a Mega Salamence soaring above them with Mairin on its back.

"Nice job, Salamence! I knew you could do it," Zinnia said, petting her beloved Pokemon on the back. She turned back to Mairin, who was shaking from bewilderment and fear.

"W-who are you?" she stammered, clinging onto the back of the Dragon Pokemon as if she thought she would fall off at any moment.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as the Mega Salamence landed next to them. Alain immediately helped Mairin down and embraced her tightly. Despite the rampaging Legendary Pokemon and the evil organization surrounding them, Alain kissed her.

"Aww," May said, smiling as she clasped her hands together and watched the two lovers enjoy their reunion.

"That's true love," Brock commented.

Zinnia hopped off of her Salamence's back and looked around. Immediately, Gary marveled at the Mega-Evolved Salamence that stood before him. "Wow...that's awesome. I'm impressed that you've developed such a strong bond with a Pokemon that's typically pretty tough to train," he said, admiring Salamence's curved wings and long, sharp claws.

Zinnia smiled and nodded. "Yep! A true Draconid can connect with any Dragon-type Pokemon," she said, petting Aster gently. "So, where's that Champion lady at? I figured she would be with you guys," she said.

Tierno and Trevor both looked skeptical. "You...know the Champion? But you don't look like you're from around here," Tierno said. "And how did you know she was fighting with us?"

Zinnia held up her hands. "Look, buddy, I don't really know what's going on here, but I'm looking for a Legendary Pokemon and I can't waste any time in finding it," she said.

"Well, I'm not sure if you've noticed, but Groudon and Kyogre are right over there, taking their sweet time wrecking the whole fricken city!" Iris yelled.

Zinnia smirked. "Oh, them? While they might be great and all, I'm not concerning myself with any Pokemon other than Rayquaza. You seen it lately? I know it's supposed to have been sighted around here," she said.

Trevor shook his head. "Well, I don't know who told you that, but they're wrong. Rayquaza doesn't ever come here...and if it had, then I would've known, trust me," he explained.

Zinnia looked surprised. "Wait...what?" she asked.

"AHEM!" Matt's voice echoed through the air. "I'm touched, I truly am touched. You all have fought so valiantly, and it almost pains me to tell you your efforts were fruitless. Watch, just watch, as Prism Tower crumbles to the ground, symbolizing the fall of Kalos at the hands of Team Aqua! ...What? Oh, right, and Team Magma!"

At that moment, everything happened so suddenly all at once that it was difficult to tell what was going on. Everyone but Zinnia was surprised to see Diantha teleport to the base of Prism Tower, her Gardevoir Mega-Evolved and ready for battle. Simultaneously, Wulfric entered the city, only it took him a while to reach the battlegrounds due to his old age and slow-moving Pokemon, Abomasnow. Nevertheless, the Snowbelle City Gym Leader was here to fight.

"It's Wulfric!" Tierno shouted, suddenly seeming to be in better spirits now. Trevor shook his head, wondering if Tierno could possibly be bipolar.

Alain began to feel slightly more hopeful again until his thoughts returned to Ash and Serena. He's our leader...can we really pull this off without him? he thought.

Mairin looked up at Alain's face and saw that he seemed to be in pain. She looked down, and tears began to slowly stream down her face. "I'm sorry...that I wasn't strong enough to help them," she said, trying her very best not to burst out crying. She had to keep a brave face, no matter what.

Alain's expression was a surprised one, and he shook his head. "It's not your fault...if anything it was probably Ash's fault for being too rash," he said, though he didn't really mean it. There was no way Ash could really be gone just because of his reckless attitude...was there?

But it wasn't until then when the most stunning and confusing turn of events occurred.

The dogs came in a pack, leaping over the city walls in a star-like formation. They were majestic, mysterious creatures; no one had ever seen them before. But what surprised everyone even more was the fact that Ash, Serena, and Pikachu were all riding on the back of the lead dog.

"ASH!" Everyone exclaimed, most of them unable to contain their happiness and excitement. Some cried, some laughed, some just shook their heads in disbelief with smiles on their faces. Ash had done it again.

"Why wasn't he with the others?" Misty wondered aloud, though she couldn't really care less at that moment. Ash just being there was enough to make everyone's worries vanish as if they had never existed.

Ash's Charizard beat its huge wings and released several Flamethrower attacks randomly into the air, overjoyed from seeing that his trainer was okay after all.

"Whoaaa!" Ash's excited voice filled the air as the lead dog landed smoothly on the ground and came to a stop. Behind Ash, Serena held onto his waist and pressed up against his back. The other dogs followed suit, and they bared their fangs as they looked up towards the helicopters.

Matt frowned and disconnected his loudspeaker. He couldn't process what was happening, it was too much for him to handle. "What the...what the fuck are those things?"

Shelly and Tabitha were equally shocked, unable to express what they were thinking. They now wondered if their plan would still work.

The only one who got over the shock was Courtney, who simply smiled and turned to her lieutenant. "I don't know what those dogs are or what they can do, but I'd rather not take any risks. I think it's time for plan B," she said, gently stroking her lieutenant's shoulder.

"Y-yes, ma'am," he replied shakily. Even he was unsure if this was the right thing to do.

While everyone was celebrating about the return of Ash, Serena, Diantha, and Wulfric, no one seemed to notice just how close Groudon was to them. It let out another deafening roar, its very presence causing a burning sunlight to emanate from the sky. Kyogre was causing an extremely heavy rainfall to pour at the same time, creating the strangest weather condition of all time.

Courtney nodded, and the lieutenant gave the command.

"Guys! Everyone, shut up and focus! Look up there!" Kenny shouted.

Gary and Misty both turned simultaneously. "Oh no..." Misty said, her legs feeling weak at the sight of the two Legendary Pokemon.

"What's happening?" Dawn asked frantically, her hands worriedly resting on her cheeks.

Team Dedenne could only continue to watch helplessly as Groudon and Kyogre approached Team Piplup. The two Legendary Pokemon each seemed to be preparing a powerful attack, one that would surely wipe out anyone caught inside of it.

"What's going on?" Bonnie demanded, unable to see over Calem's head.

Max couldn't see either, his view blocked by Cilan and Paul. Shauna trembled with fear, unaccustomed to such extreme and dangerous circumstances.

Clemont couldn't adjust his glasses, but he could somewhat see what was going on. He could just make out the outline of Groudon and a few other helicopters, but for the most part the rain made it too difficult to see any details.

On the ground, Diantha turned and began to run back to Team Piplup. "Everyone, take cover! They're attacking!" she screamed. Wulfric ran as fast as he could with her, though he was lagging behind considerably.

Everyone braced themselves for anything as Groudon and Kyogre filled the air with their cries. Groudon summoned monstrously-sized plates of earth to protrude from the ground as Kyogre released an overwhelmingly large wave of pure aquatic energy.

However, to everyone's surprise, the attacks weren't aimed at Team Piplup.

Instead, to Clemont's horror, Prism Tower fell victim to Precipice Blades and Origin Pulse. The beautiful landmark, however genius its design, was unable to withstand such immensely powerful forces. The tower exploded, sending huge chunks of iron and glass flying through the air.

Straight towards Team Piplup.